A Ranger in Thedas
by DarkAvenger001
Summary: Corporal Wayne Clark finds himself in the middle of a crisis that just so happens to be in a world not his own. Now, he has to help the fledgling Inquisition to deal with the crisis while trying to find a way back home.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A couple things should be known before we start with the story. First, this chapter will a lot longer than the following chapters. I just really wanted to get the prologue out of the way. Second, this story will have the main character paired with a harem of three, so if this bothers you, then stop reading right now**.

 **A/N: Please, remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.**

Chapter 1:

Just a Routine Mission

"They're coming out of the fucking ground!" was a shout in a cave in a desert. Which desert and which country it was in doesn't matter, but what matters is that the soldiers of the squad of Army rangers in the cave were being torn to shreds by strange creatures. The creatures were tall and humanoid and had a habit of disappearing into the ground before bursting out underneath the soldiers and tearing them to shreds.

"Fall back!" one of the soldiers ordered.

"To where!? They've blocked the exit!" another shouted.

"Shit!" the first soldier, Corporal Wayne Clark, cursed. This was supposed to a drive-by mission. They'd just finished another mission and were ordered to investigate some strange animal attacks occurring in a nearby village. They eventually tracked the animal attacks to a cave and before too long, they found themselves under attack from the creatures. Sergeant Jack Stars was the first to be killed, leaving them without a leader until Corporal Clark stepped up to lead the quickly dwindling squad. The squad's marksman was the second to fall to the creatures, their ear-shattering shrieks stunning him long enough for them to disembowel him.

Clark fired his M4 Carbine at them, killing the two standing over the marksman's corpse, the two turning to ash before grabbing the fallen Barrett M107 and slung it over his shoulder. Clark quickly ordered them to set C4 at key points of the cave tunnel, but they were forced to do so under fire and suffered numerous losses. By that point, there were only three soldiers left, including Corporal Clark. The three remaining soldiers tried to make their way to the entrance, grabbing their deceased allies' ammo on the way, and killing more of the creatures, but the entrance was blocked by a new type of creature. It was bigger than the other creatures with electricity sparking in its claws. It created a whip of lightning and used it to cut one of the soldiers in half.

"Shit, we can't take that thing down!" Clark shouted as he fired at the creature while moving back into the cave, his shots doing little damage against its armor.

The creature laughed a deep and guttural laugh as the two soldiers fell back deeper into the cave. It created a large ball of electrical energy and fired it hitting the last of Clark's comrades, frying him. Clark turned and ran, knowing he couldn't match the massive creature, especially with more of the other ones being heard making their way to him. He hurried through the cave tunnels, trying to find another way out, but instead he found himself at a dead end with what looked like a hole in the air. He looked around for another way out but only heard more of the shrieks and the same deep, guttural laugh from before.

"Shit," he muttered as the realization of what that meant sunk in. He was trapped and the creatures were coming for him. He pulled out the detonator for the C4 and said to the darkness, "Go to hell," before clicking the trigger. Explosions went off deeper in the cave and he saw the ball of flame shoot towards him. Then, the world went black.

Wayne had no idea how long he was out but when he started to regain consciousness, he noticed that he was lying on a stone floor. Groaning, he sat up, crossing his legs, "What the hell?" he asked, shaking the fuzziness from his mind as he reached up to rub his head when he noticed something he hadn't before: his hands were shackled and most of his equipment was gone, leaving him with only his basic clothes. His vest, weapons, and even his helmet were gone. He looked around and found that he was in an old-style prison, complete with iron bars. He wasn't alone either as there were a number of men standing in a circle around him, all of them wearing **armor** and carrying **swords** , not to mention they seemed to be guarding him.

"Uh, any chance of a phone call?" Wayne asked the guards, but he received no answer. He sighed and then saw a weird green light shine in the palm of his hand. It felt like someone just stabbed him in the hand and he did the only thing he could: he cried out in pain and surprise, "Gaaah, what the fuck is wrong with my hand!?"

Instead of the guards answering, the door in front of him slammed open and two women came in. One was dressed in armor, had a sword and shield, and had a scowl on her face. The other was a red head with a hood covering her head. She had a neutral expression on her face. The scowling woman circled around him, while the red head observed his reactions.

The woman behind him leaned down to speak in his ear, "Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now."

Wayne reacted in the way he usually did when confronted with an unknown situation: he became a smartass.

"Because I'm so cute and cuddly?" he asked sarcastically.

The scowling woman drew her sword and pointed it at his throat, "This isn't a joke!"

"Woah, watch the sword there, Xena!" Wayne said, leaning back, "I already shaved today!"

She growled as she withdrew her sword from his throat, "The conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. But you, you were found in the wreckage, almost without a scratch."

"Yeah, I have no clue what the hell you're talking about there, Xena," Wayne said, "I've got no idea what this 'Conclave' is, but I've got nothing to do with it."

"Then, explain this," the woman he called Xena said, grabbing his left arm to gesture to the green light on his hand, which was still giving him a stabbing pain.

"That's, uh, kinda new," Wayne said, "Can't really explain it. Hurts like hell though." He turned to the red head, "What about you, Spook? Nothing to say?"

Instead Xena answered, getting in his face, "You're lying! You know more than you're saying."

'Spook' pulled 'Xena' off of him, "We need him, Cassandra."

"Yeah, Xena, respect the personal space," Wayne said, getting her to scowl back at him.

"My name is Cassandra Pentaghast, Seeker of the Chantry, not 'Xena,'" 'Xena' said.

"Nah, I like Xena better. It suits you," Wayne said, smiling teasingly.

'Spook' stepped between Cassandra and Wayne, "Do you remember what happened? How this began?"

Wayne shrugged, "I was in a cave with my squad, investigating weird animal attacks, but we came under attack by these weird…creatures. They tore through us like we were nothing. There was no end to them, so we were forced to blow the cave while we were still in there. We couldn't risk them escaping. Next thing I know, I'm in here, looking at Xena's lovely face."

Cassandra scowled at his teasing, but Spook spoke up again, "That's it? Nothing else?"

Wayne shrugged and closed his eyes to concentrate, flashes of memories starting to come back, "Yeah…I remember…running and…giant spiders? And…a woman?"

That seemed to get Spook's attention, "A woman?"

"Yeah, she reached out to me, but then…nothing," Wayne said, shrugging, "Does any of that mean anything to you?"

"I'm afraid not," she said before a thought occurred to her, "Why do you call me Spook?"

"I've been a soldier long enough to recognize a spook when I see one," Wayne said simply.

Having enough of going in circles, Cassandra moved to her partner, "Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take him to the rift."

"Yeah, that's not happening," Wayne said, getting both of the women to turn to him.

"You do not have a choice," Cassandra said, her scowl still present.

"Oh, I beg to differ, Xena. See, Spook mentioned that you need me for something, so clearly you need me in one piece, but the problem is that you mentioned a forward operating base, which you only need if you're under attack by an enemy. So, if I had to guess, you just offered to take a restrained captive," he started, shaking his restraints, "through hostile territory by yourself. That's not only stupid, it's suicidal."

"He raises a good point, Cassandra," Leliana said, "Maybe you could take some of the soldiers with you."

Cassandra shook her head, "We can't spare the manpower. We need to leave them here to defend Haven in case the demons get too close." 

"Uh…demons?" Wayne asked, receiving no answer.

"Still it is too dangerous to escort him and watch for demons," Leliana said.

"What other choice do we have?" Cassandra asked rhetorically.

"Well, you could arm me," Wayne said, getting the women's attention.

"Absolutely not," Cassandra said, firmly.

"Well, guess you're shit out of luck there, Xena. You can either trust me not to run or kill you when your back is turned, which would be stupid for me to do, since I have no clue where I am or how hostile these 'demons' are to me, or you can try to force me through obviously extremely hostile territory while also trying to singlehandedly deal with any enemies we encounter. Your choice, Xena."

Cassandra looked at Leliana, who shrugged. The seeker sighed and spoke to one of the guards, "Get his personal belongings."

"Yes, ma'am," the guard said hurrying out while Cassandra moved to Wayne and pulled out the key to his manacles.

"Don't make me regret this," Cassandra warned.

"You watch where you swing that sword of yours and I'll watch where I shoot," Wayne said smiling.

Just then, the guard came back with Wayne's equipment and he moved to collect them, checking the different pieces for anything that they might have damaged or sabotaged. Finding it all in order, he put on his vest and attached the different weapons to him before following Cassandra out of the prison.

"So, what do you think I did anyway?" Wayne asked.

"It is best if I show you," Cassandra said, leading him down a hall and up the stairs.

They came out and Wayne found that he was in an old-fashioned village surrounded by mountains…and the worst part? It was snowing and cold.

"Where the Hell am I?" Wayne asked himself as he looked around and saw something that was perhaps the weirdest thing he'd seen thus far: a shining green vortex in the sky with a beam coming down from it.

"We call it "The Breach," Cassandra said, noticing his staring at the vortex, "It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour.

"Wait, so you weren't being metaphorical when you and Spook were talking about demons?" Wayne asked.

"Of course not," she said, "The Breach is not the only such rift. Just the largest. All were caused by the explosion at the Conclave."

"An explosion can do that?" Wayne asked.

She nodded, "Unless we act, the Breach may grow until it swallows the world."

"Great," he said, before the Breach flashed and the light on his hand flared, giving him the sensation of his hand being torn in two. He cried out in pain and fell to his knees, grasping his hand.

Cassandra quickly moved to him, "Each time the Breach expands, your mark spreads…and it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn't much time."

"And here I thought, ugh, it was just a charming accessory," he joked through the pain, "Look, Xena, I'm going to, urgh, fuck that hurts, going to help you. I promise," he said, before laughing weakly, "Not like I got much of a choice anyway."

following close behind. As they walked, he noticed a lot of people were glaring at him. "Okay, why is everyone looking at me like I just pissed in the punchbowl?"

"They have decided your guilt. They need it," Cassandra explained.

"I don't understand. Why would I do this to myself?" he asked waving the hand where the weird light was present, "Besides I don't even know what this 'Conclave' is."

"The Conclave was a meeting between the mages and the templars hosted by Our Most Holy, Divine Justinia. It was the only hope for piece between the two forces," Cassandra explained.

"Divine Justinia? Who's that? Your country's leader or something?" Wayne asked.

"She was leader of the Chantry," Cassandra asked, looking at him in confusion, "How do you not know this? Do you not follow the teachings of Andraste where you come from?"

"Yeah, I've got no idea who that is," Wayne said, "But I guess this Justinia was important and well-liked?"

"Perhaps more than any other Divine. The explosion that created the Breach destroyed the Conclave also killed everyone present. Only you were found alive."

"And so without any other suspects people assume that I caused it, since I survived," Wayne said.

"Correct," she said.

"Terrific. Guess no one around here has heard of 'innocent until proven guilty,'" Wayne said.

Cassandra didn't answer the statement as she led him out of the village before taking him down a trail, "We lash out, like the sky. But we must think beyond ourselves. As she did, until the Breach is sealed."

"Nice thought. I wonder if they'll share your sentiment when they try to lynch me," Wayne said.

"There will be a trial. I can promise no more," Cassandra said, with sadness that surprised Wayne.

"Well, at least there'll be a trial," he muttered, "Somehow, I doubt it'll be a fair one."

"As I said, I can promise no more than the actual trial," she said, leading him down the path.

"Where are you taking me anyway?" Wayne asked, as they passed people praying and others fleeing into the temporary safety of the village. Corpses and burning wagons littered the road.

"Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach," she explained.

They got about fifteen feet from the gates when the Breach pulsed again and the pain from the mark drove him to his knees again.

Cassandra helped him to his feet, "The pulses are coming faster now. The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face."

They started hurrying down the path, knowing their time was growing shorter with each passing minute.

"So, how did I get here anyway?" Wayne asked.

"They said you…stepped out of a rift, then fell unconscious," Cassandra explained as they reached a stone bridge, "They say a woman was in the Rift behind you. No one knows who she was."

Before Wayne could ask any further questions, a ball of energy shot from the Breach and destroyed the bridge as they crossed it, sending the pair tumbling down onto the frozen river below. Another ball of energy hit the ground in front of them and resulted in a stream of energy from the impact site before a figure rose up out of it. The creature was humanoid in appearance and appeared to be wearing robes of some kind, but that was where the similarities ended. Its skin was pale and sickly. It seemed to lack legs and floated in the air.

Cassandra drew her sword and charged the creature, "I hope those items you carry are weapons!" she shouted.

"I just hope these weapons can hurt demons," Wayne muttered as he aimed his Carbine at the creature, but before he pulled the trigger, he noticed the ground in front of him bubbling and glowing with the same green energy. A second later, another of the creatures came out of the ground. "Shit!" he shouted before he pulled the trigger on the second creature, killing it with a short burst. Cassandra killed her opponent with a slash through its throat.

"It's done," she said, sighing.

"Okay, what the hell were those?" Wayne asked.

"Demons," Cassandra said, "Shades, I believe. One of the weakest types of demons."

"Oh, great," Wayne said, "There're are stronger ones?"

Cassandra just nodded and started to lead him down the frozen river, passing a corpse. "We should take any equipment he has that we can use. Never know what might come in handy."

Wayne nodded and started examining the dead man's equipment. "Looks like his helmet's the only thing not damaged."

"We should take it. I could use it," Cassandra said, gently taking the helmet off and placing it on her own head.

"Does this happen a lot?" Wayne asked, "Ya know, the whole robbing the dead thing?"

Cassandra shrugged, "It isn't ideal, but these are dire circumstances."

"Oookay," Wayne said, just accepting her explanation. As a soldier, he'd learned that some cultures were different than his and learned to accept it. The two continued down the frozen river, being attacked multiple more times along the way. Wayne was pleased to find even the more ghost-like demons, 'wraiths' as Cassandra called them, were susceptible to his shots. Eventually, they heard sounds that both of the pair knew well. "Xena, you hear that? Sounds like fighting!"

"We must help them, whoever they are," Cassandra insisted.

Wayne nodded in agreement and the pair hurried down the path to find people fighting more shades and a strange, shifting crystal floating in the air above the battle site. Wayne immediately opened fire on the shades, the loud cracks of his shots drawing the shades' attention to him.

Cassandra moved to intercept the shades that tried to flank him.

"Thanks, Xena!" Wayne shouted as he continued to fire. The other combatants fighting the demons helped to pick off the ones Wayne and Cassandra didn't kill. Once the last of the shades were defeated, the floating crystal flashed and became a hole in the air.

A man carrying a staff grabbed Wayne's left hand, saying, "Quickly, before more come through!"

"What?" Wayne asked.

The man thrust Wayne's had at the rift, causing a beam to come out of the 'mark', hitting the rift, before it flashed again and disappeared completely.

"What the hell was that?" Wayne asked the man, "What did you do?"

"I did nothing. The credit is yours," the man said, smiling kindly.

"Uh, what?" Wayne asked, looking at the Mark, "Guess this thing's useful after all."

"So, it would appear," the man said, "Whatever magic opened the Breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand. I theorized the Mark might be able to close the rifts that have opened in the Breach's wake—and it seems I was correct."

"Meaning it could also close the Breach itself," Cassandra said, hopeful.

"Possibly," the man agreed, "It seems you hold the key to our salvation."

"Cool, so, uh, what's with the ears?" Wayne asked, pointing to the man.

"I'm sorry?" the man asked, confused.

"I mean, not to be rude or anything, but were you born with them like that or did you get them changed to look like that?" Wayne asked.

"My ears are quite normal for elves such as myself," the man assured the soldier.

"Elves?" Wayne asked, looking at Cassandra, "He's kidding right?"

"Of course not," Cassandra said, not understanding his disbelief.

"Is that so strange?" the 'elf' asked, "You act as though you have never seen one of my kind before."

"Uh, that's cause elves aren't real. They're just something from a Tolkien book," Wayne said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And yet, one such being stands before you," the man said, simply.

"Heh, and next you're gonna tell me the shortstack is a real dwarf," Wayne said, gesturing to a short and stout man making his way to them.

"Uh, heh, actually, yeah, I am," the short man said, laughing nervously.

"Enough of this," Cassandra said, interrupting the conversation, "We can discuss this later perhaps."

"She's right," the short man said, fixing his gloves, "I'm just glad that Mark of yours works. I thought we were gonna be ass-deep in demons forever. Anyway, allow me to introduce myself. Varric Tethras: rogue, storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tagalong," he said, smiling and winking at Cassandra, who scowled at him.

"So, are you with this, uh, Chantry? Is that what it was called, Xena?" Wayne asked, looking at Cassandra.

The 'elf' laughed at his question, "Was that a serious question?"

Wayne looked at him in confusion, "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Dwarves and elves are not permitted to be a part of the Chantry," Cassandra stated.

"Why?"

"It is…a very old rule," Cassandra sighed, offering no other explanation.

"I was brought to…tell a story to the Divine," Varric said vaguely, "Not that I had much choice. I'm a prisoner just like you."

"You are free to go, Varric, as I have said. Now that the Divine is dead, your aid is no longer required," Cassandra said.

"So, uh, that's…a nice crossbow ya got there," Wayne said, attempting to change the subject, pointing to the large weapon on Varric's back.

"Ah, isn't she? Bianca and I have been through a lot together," Varric said, smiling at the weapon.

"You named your crossbow Bianca?" Wayne asked, curious.

"Of course," Varric insisted, "And she'll be great company in the valley."

"Absolutely not. Your help is appreciated, Varric, but-" Cassandra started, but was interrupted by Varric.

"Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker? Your soldiers aren't in control anymore. You need me," Varric insisted.

"He's got a point there, Xena," Wayne said. Cassandra just scoffed and walked off.

The 'elf' spoke up then, "My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions. I am pleased to see you still live."

Wayne arched a confused eyebrow at him and Varric spoke up, "He means, 'I kept that Mark from killing you while you slept."

"Oh, thanks for that, Elrond," Wayne said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Um, it's Solas as you recall."

"Yeah, I know. I just like giving people little nicknames and Elrond was the name of an elf in one of my favorite book series," Wayne explained, "He was wise and helped to save the hero's life. Felt it kinda fit you."

"Ah, then, it is appreciated," Solas said before turning to the seeker, "Cassandra, you should know: the magic involved here is unlike any I have seen. Your prisoner is no mage, clearly. Indeed, I find it difficult to imagine any mage having such power."

"Understood," Cassandra said, nodding, "We must get to the forward camp quickly." With that, Cassandra and Solas made their way over some rubble to continue down the path to the forward camp with Wayne and Varric following behind.

"Well, Bianca's excited," Varric laughed.

"At least there's that. Let's get going, Pinocchio. Don't want to be left behind," Wayne said.

"Pinocchio?" Varric asked as he walked by Wayne's side.

"What? You've never heard of that story?" the soldier asked to which Varric shook his head, "Well, my first idea was Short Round, but you're not cute enough or Asian enough for that, so I figured one of the most famous liars in history would fit for you, Mr. Storyteller."

"You'll have to tell me that story sometime," Varric said.

"Sure, ya know, assuming I don't die sealing the Breach or get executed soon after," Wayne joked.

"Yeah, that would make things a bit difficult," Varric laughed.

The group followed the back down the hill, where they came under attack from more demons, this time a combination of shades and wraiths. They immediately began their attack.

"Glad you brought me now, Seeker?" Varric asked as he shot a bolt into one of the shades' eyes.

"Flirt later!" Wayne said as he fired on the wraiths.

Solas fired a series of fireballs on another of the shades, while Cassandra fought the last one, slashing it across its chest.

"Hey, Elrond, how'd you shoot those fireballs?" Wayne asked, once the last of the demons were defeated.

"Magic," Solas said, simply.

Wayne looked at Cassandra, who said, "He's quite serious."

"Wait, so magic is real?" Wayne asked, surprised.

"You have the Mark on your hand. Do you need more proof?" Solas asked.

"Touché," Wayne said before the group headed up the hill.

"What manner of weapons are those?" Cassandra asked.

"They're guns," Wayne said, "They fire small metal projectiles. Think of them as a more advanced version of Bianca."

"Well, they're not as pretty," Varric said, pouting.

"Not saying otherwise there, Pinocchio," Wayne said.

"So…are you innocent?" Varric asked after a few more minutes of walking.

"Dude, I don't even know where I am or how I got to where they found me," Wayne said.

"That'll get you every time. Should have told a story," Varric said.

"That's what **you** would have done," Cassandra said.

"It's more believable and less prone to result in premature execution," Varric said.

"Always a plus," Wayne muttered, before he spotted more demons on the path, "We've got incoming!"

The demon numbers this time were less than the last fight, numbering only three of the creatures, so they lasted for only short about of time. Once the group finished the demons, they continued once more down the path, more burning wagons and discarded items by the trail.

"I only hope Leliana made it through this," Cassandra said, worriedly.

"She's resourceful, Seeker," Varric said, reassuringly.

"Yeah, Xena, Spook won't go down that easy I'm sure," Wayne agreed.

"We will see for ourselves at the forward camp. We are almost there," Cassandra said.

Sure enough, less than a minute, they reached a large gate, but another rift blocked their path. The group immediately attacked the demons. The shades tried to get in close to tear them apart, but Cassandra kept them from getting close, while the remaining three took down the wraiths and the shades that made their way past the Seeker. Once the demons were defeated, Wayne, remembering what Solas did with the last one, thrust his left hand forward, sending the beam out at the rift, making it flash and seal closed.

One of the guards ordered the gate open now that the rift was gone, while Varric and Solas congratulated Wayne on his sealing of the rift. The group went through the gate once it was open, finding themselves in a small camp on a bridge, and immediately spotted Leliana arguing with a man in red and white robes, so they headed towards them.

Noticing them approaching the man said, "Ah, here they come."

Leliana stepped forward to introduce the group, "You made it," she said, relieved, "Chancellor Roderick, this is-"

"I know who he is," Roderick said, annoyed.

'Oh, great, I can already tell this guy's gonna be fun to deal with,' Wayne thought before the Chancellor spoke again and proved Wayne right.

"As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I hereby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux to face execution!" he ordered.

"So much for the trial, huh, Xena?" Wayne asked. The Seeker at least the heart to flinch and not meet his gaze. She did, however, refuse to be cowled by him.

"'Order me?' You are a glorified clerk. A bureaucrat!" Cassandra said, annoyed at the injustice towards someone that is at least trying to help.

"And you are a thug, but a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry!" the Chancellor said, looking down his nose at the Seeker, whose armor was stained with demon's blood.

Leliana stepped into the conversation then, "We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor, as you well know."

"Justinia is dead! We must elect a replacement and obey **her** orders on the matter!"

"So, until that time they're just supposed to obey you just cause you're important enough to have some fancy outfit?" Wayne asked rhetorically.

"I am the only one here in a position to represent the Chantry, criminal, therefore all followers should aid my efforts in restoring order. Not that it matters to you, since you will soon be taken to face justice for the lives you've taken," Roderick said arrogantly.

"And I suppose we should just ignore the big hole in the sky?" Wayne asked.

" **You** brought this on us in the first place!" Roderick said, pointing accusingly at Wayne.

"Prove it, Douchenozzle," Wayne said, crossing his arms.

Roderick breathed an angry breath before turning back to Cassandra, "Call a retreat, Seeker. Our position here is hopeless."

"There's a famous quote from where I come from that fits here," Wayne said, getting everyone to look at him, "'Retreat, Hell, we just got here."

His allies smiled at him, while Roderick just glowered at him.

"We can stop this before it's too late," Cassandra insisted.

"How? You won't survive long enough to reach the temple, even with all your soldiers," Roderick said, any hope gone from his voice.

"We must get to the Temple. It's the quickest route," Cassandra insisted.

"But not the safest. Our forces can charge as a distraction while we go through the mountains," Leliana said.

Cassandra shook her head, "We lost contact with an entire squad on that path. It is too risky."

Roderick tried to make one final plea just then, "Listen to me. Abandon this now before more lives are lost!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Breach flared again, causing the Mark to inflict more excruciating pain, but this time he was expecting it so he managed to actually stay on his feet this time.

Cassandra moved to him, her face and tone showed slight worry, which surprised Wayne, "How do **you** think we should proceed?"

"You're…asking me?" Wayne asked surprised.

"You have the Mark," Solas explained, "You're the one that we must ensure reaches our destination."

"We charge," Wayne said, "If we take the long way to the Temple, there's less chance I'll actually survive long enough to seal the Breach, let alone your trial if I even get one. Whatever happens, happens now."

The group, minus Leliana and Cassandra, headed towards the other end of the bridge to wait for the troops. Cassandra ordered Leliana to gather the remaining troops from the valley before making her way to the rest of the group, specifically Wayne.

"I…would just like you to know that I and everyone else appreciate the risk you are taking, despite you likely receiving no thanks for it," she said.

"Tell ya what, if I live through this, you owe me a kiss, Xena?" Wayne asked, jokingly with a teasing smile.

She scoffed in annoyance, "Can you take nothing seriously?"

"Sure, I can, but since I'm probably gonna be executed, I figure a kiss from beautiful woman wouldn't be too much to ask," Wayne said, still smiling. She scoffed and walked away, making Wayne's smile widen. "Yeah, she's gonna be fun to mess with," Wayne muttered to himself.

It was two hours before the vanguard led the charge with Wayne's group following behind them. By the time they caught up to them, the vanguard had already suffered numerous casualties. Wayne's group immediately joined the fray, one of the soldier's shots saved a man with lion-decorated armor from having his head taken off by a shade. Even with the soldiers, they had trouble due to there was a larger group of demons coming out of the nearby rift than the previous two that Wayne's group dealt with. As Wayne fired, he had to admit the lion-decorated knight had some skills as he slashed one shade's chest before spinning and stabbing another through the head. After the first wave of demons, more came out of the rift including a new type that Wayne remembered from the cave.

"Careful, guys, these ones like to ambush ya from below!" the soldier shouted. The fighters continued to take down the demons one by one until the last fell and Wayne sealed the rift.

Solas made his way to the soldier, "Sealed, as before. You are becoming quite proficient at this."

"What can I say? I've always been a quick study," Wayne joked.

Solas smiled, "So, it would appear."

Varric joined them, "Let's hope it works on the big one."

The lion-decorated knight made his way to Cassandra, "Lady Cassandra, you managed to close the rift? Well done."

"Do not congratulate me, Commander. This is the prisoner's doing," Cassandra said, gesturing to Wayne, who smiled and waved.

"Is it? I hope they're right about you. We've lost a lot of people getting you here."

"Don't worry, Commander. I won't let ya down," Wayne said, seriously.

"That's all we can ask," he said before speaking to Cassandra, "The way to the Temple should be clear. Leliana will try to meet you there."

"Then, we'd best move quickly. Give us time, Commander," Cassandra said.

"Maker watch over you—for all our sakes," the Commander said before he started helping the wounded escape the battlefield.

Wayne's group jumped off a small ledge to reach a large clearing. Wayne was horrified to find that there were corpses of people still frozen in the terrified positions they were in during the explosion, their skin and clothes burned completely off, making even their gender unrecognizable. It reminded Wayne of pictures of Pompeii with the frozen ash-covered corpses still in the positions they died in.

"The Temple of Sacred Ashes," Solas said.

"Damn, this is, fuck!" Wayne said as he looked around at the devastation.

"That is where you walked out of the Fade and our soldiers found you," Cassandra said, "They say a woman was in the rift with you, but no one knows who she was."

The group made their way through the ruins of the Temple, passing more of the frozen, flaming corpses, and Wayne noticed some of them were glowing red. Coming to a courtyard, the group found a larger rift than they had ever seen before.

"The Breach **is** a long way up," Varric said in awe.

Just then a voice was heard from behind them, "You're here. Thank the Maker!"

Wayne turned to see Leliana hurrying her way towards the group with soldiers following behind her.

Cassandra intercepted Leliana, "Leliana, have your men take up positions around the temple." The red head nodded her agreement before starting to give the soldiers orders. Once she left, Cassandra turned to Wayne, "This is your chance to end this. Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, Xena," Wayne said, nodding, "Though how exactly am I gonna get up there?"

"No. This rift was the first and it is the key," Solas explained, "Seal it and perhaps we seal the Breach."

"Then, let's find a way down," Cassandra said, "And be careful."

The group followed the balcony around and soon, they saw some bright red crystals coming out of the walls. Varric explained that it was something called 'red lyrium' and that they shouldn't touch it, since it was evil and they didn't what it to start 'talking' to them. Wayne had no idea what he meant by that, but felt it best to take the dwarf's advice. As they made their way around, they began to hear voices seemingly coming from the rift. One voice was female and identified by Cassandra as that of Divine Justinia and the other was clearly male, but was deep and unrecognized by the members of the group, though Solas guessed that it was the one who created the Breach. Once they reached the bottom after jumping from the balcony, the Mark started reacting to the rift and images started coming from the rift.

"Someone help me!" Justinia shouted.

"No one will come for you," the male voice said.

"You will not succeed! They will stop you!" Justinia insisted, struggling against whatever held her.

"Keep the sacrifice still," the male voice said before the images faded.

"W-was this vision true? What are we seeing?" Cassandra asked.

"Echoes of what happened here," Solas explained, "The Fade bleeds into this place. This rift is not sealed, but it is closed…albeit temporarily. I believe that with the Mark, the rift can be opened and then sealed properly and safely."

"But…?" Wayne asked.

"Opening the rift will likely attract attention from the other side," Solas said.

"That means demons. Stand ready!" she ordered the soldiers, as they took up sniping positions above the courtyard and the short-range fighters joined Wayne's group.

"Here we go," Wayne muttered before he held his hand out to send a beam at the rift, opening it. When it opened, a single demon came through, a singe, **large** demon. "Not another one of these fuckers!" he shouted as he raised his rifle.

"Now!" Cassandra shouted, raising her sword, giving the signal to the archers to begin firing on the demon.

Wayne and Varric started firing at the demon as well, while Solas used different spells to hit the demon. The demon attacked with lightning whips and lightning balls, but the various fighters dodged the attacks and slowly, but surely chipped away at the demon's armor. The demon managed to grab Wayne in its massive hand, but Wayne pulled one of his grenades off his vest before pulling the pin and throwing it into the demon's mouth. It dropped the soldier in surprise before the grenade went off and blew up its head, making it fade back into the rift, which made the rift vulnerable. Wayne began to seal it like he had the others, but this time he felt like his energy was sapped from his body, but he kept going until with an explosion the rift was sealed and the Breach ceased its release of new rifts, something that could be seen for miles. That was the last thing Wayne saw before the world went black once more.

 **A/N: And there's chapter 1! Please, favorite, follow, and/or review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Reviews:**

 **cjboughton:**

 **I uploaded the new chapter for the Overlord story in case you haven't seen it.**

 **alan:**

 **Glad you like it.**

 **edboy4926:**

 **I'm glad you liked it. Hope it continues.**

 **superfanman217:**

 **Here you go.**

 **prophet:**

 **Glad you like it so far. As for your suggestion, I actually have that planned for this chapter.**

 **A/N: So, I forgot to upload this chapter on here after I finished it! Whoops! Guess that explains why no one commented. Please, remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.**

 **Chapter 2:**

 **Questions Answered**

Wayne felt like he was floating on water, completely surrounded by blackness. He couldn't see anything, but his body felt so weak and tired that couldn't see any reason to try and find a way out of this blackness. He just wanted to rest a while, but a voice pierced the darkness, preventing that.

"Are you just going to lay there all day, Ranger?" asked the voice.

Wayne looked in the direction of the voice and saw a man suddenly appearing over him, a man he knew all too well.

"Drill Sergeant Acker?" he asked, weakly. Even in the complete darkness, Wayne could see Acker clearly. The drill sergeant looked just like he did the last time Wayne saw him. He was wearing the usual uniform of a soldier with his wide-brimmed hat. His hair was shaved to nubs and his brown eyes glared down at him with his admonishing seriousness.

"I asked you a question, soldier," he asked, looking down.

"I'm tired, drill sergeant. So, so tired," Wayne said, wanting to rest.

"What are you, some pussy-foot duck? Some lazy-assed flyboy that sits on his ass all day?" Acker asked.

"No sir," Wayne said, more strength finding its way to his voice.

"What are you?" Acker asked.

"A ranger, sir," Wayne said, firmly.

"That's right. Now, get up you have a job to do. There's more to this Breach business than what there appears to be," Acker said, firmly.

"What do you mean, sir?" Wayne asked, confused.

"You'll figure it out. Remember what I told you and the rest of the trainees when you were just some untrained maggots," he said.

Wayne nodded, "I will, sir."

"Good, now GET YOUR ASS UP!" he ordered.

Wayne's eyes snapped open and he jerked up, finding himself on a bed in some kind of single floor wooden house.

'Definitely better than the last place I woke up in,' he thought. Any further thoughts were interrupted when he heard a gasp and a loud bang. Faster than even he thought possible, Wayne had his sidearm in his hands, aimed at the source of the sound, only to find it to be a kid, a teen to be precise. An elf, Wayne guessed from the kid's pointed ears.

The kid looked like she was about to wet herself, which made Wayne mentally slap himself and lower the gun.

Before he could speak, the elf dropped to her knees and bowed her head, "I beg your forgiveness and your blessing. I am but a humble servant."

This took Wayne aback, since it was pretty much the exact opposite of his treatment the last time he woke up in a strange place.

"It's alright, kid. Stand up, would ya?" Wayne said, uncomfortable by the girl's actions. The girl did so, but looked uncomfortable about it. "So, what happened? Where am I?"

"You are back in Haven, my lord. They say you saved us. The Breach stopped growing, just like the mark on your hand. It's all anyone has talked about for the last three days," the elf said.

"Wait, three days? I've been unconscious for that long?" Wayne asked in shock.

The elf nodded. "Seeker Pentaghast said she wanted to know when you awoke. She's in the Chantry with the Lord Chancellor," the elf boy said, backing away towards the door, clearly frightened at the prospect of Cassandra being angry, "'At once,' she said." With that, the elf-girl ran out of the door, closing it behind her.

Wayne got out of the bed and put his vest on before seeing his weapons on the table and checking them for any tampering. Even the sniper rifle, which he thought he lost since his being sent through that original rift, was there. He grabbed each of his weapons and headed for the door. He opened it to find a huge crowd of people and, out of surprise, slammed the door closed again. He leaned against the wall and peeked out the window to get a better look at what he was dealing with.

'Huh, doesn't look like a lynch mob,' he thought, his finger still on the trigger just in case, 'Well, I guess if they were planning to lynch me, they wouldn't give me my weapons back,' he thought before he took another look outside, 'Well, can't stay in here forever.'

With his resolve solidified, he took a deep breath and went out the door. He walked towards the crowd and was surprised when the soldiers cleared a path through the crowd. Most of the people in the crowd seemed to be wearing strange robes similar to those he remembered that douche Roderick wearing. The people were whispering to each other as he passed, calling him the 'Herald of Andraste,' not that he understood what the hell that meant.

'Guess the Chantry's that big church-like building,' he thought as he walked towards the largest building in the village, 'Maybe Spook or Xena can explain who this Andraste character they're saying was watching over me is. Must be some goddess or something.' As he was walking, he couldn't help but notice that the glares he'd suffered under the last time he was among the people were replaced by the looks of awe and, while they were quick to point out that the problems weren't all fixed, they were appreciative of what had been done thus far.

Upon entering the large church-like building, Wayne immediately recognized the sound of Cassandra shouting and questioning someone's sanity. Then, he unfortunately recognized the voice of a certain douche bag chancellor that was insisting that Wayne be taken to some place called Val Royeaux for trial.

Deciding to make his presence known, Wayne went through the door where the voices were coming from.

Roderick recovered from the surprise of him bursting into the room first, "Chain him," the chancellor ordered the guards by the door, "I want him prepared for travel to the capital for trial."

The guards, however, didn't move until Cassandra spoke, "Disregard that and leave us."

The two guards saluted with their fists to their hearts before walking past Wayne and going out the door.

Roderick, however, didn't appreciate having his orders contradicted, "You walk a dangerous line, Seeker."

"The Breach is stable, but it is still a threat. I will not ignore it," Cassandra said, firmly.

"I did everything I could to close the Breach. It almost killed me!" Wayne said, getting tired of Roderick's baseless accusations.

"Yet you live. A convenient result, insofar as you're concerned," Roderick sneered.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to live," Wayne replied sarcastically.

Cassandra stepped in the conversation again, "Have a care, Chancellor. The Breach is not the only threat we face."

Leliana stepped into the conversation, "Someone was behind the explosion at the Conclave. Someone Most Holy did not expect."

"Like a man dressed in strange clothes and carrying strange weapons?" Roderick asked, glaring at Wayne, who replied by raising a single finger.

"Perhaps these hidden threats died with the others…or have allies who yet live," Leliana said, looking meaningfully at Roderick, who looked shocked at her implication.

"i _I_ /i am a suspect?" he asked in shock.

"You…and many others," Leliana assured.

"But not the prisoner," Roderick questioned, annoyed.

"I heard the voices in the temple. The one attacking the Divine sounded nothing like Wayne," Cassandra said, "Besides, he was willing to risk his life so that the Breach could be closed. I believe in his innocence."

The Seeker's serious and impassioned argument in his defense surprised Wayne. 'I may have to stop messing with her…nah,' he thought, mentally laughing.

Roderick still wasn't satisfied, "So his being found at the scene, that i _thing_ /i on his hand; all a coincidence?"

"Providence," Cassandra disagreed, "The Maker sent him to us in our darkest hour."

"Say what?" Wayne asked, completely confused as to what she was talking about.

"We will explain later," Leliana said, "The Breach remains and your Mark is still our only hope of closing it."

"That is i _not_ /i for you to decide," Roderick insisted.

Seeming to have enough of his complaints and whining, Cassandra grabbed a book from one of the nearby tables and slammed it onto the table in the center.

"You know what this is, Chancellor," she said, stabbing the book with her finger. Wayne was about to ask the importance when she explained, "A writ from the Divine, granting us the authority to act. As of this moment, I declare the Inquisition reborn." With that, she started advancing on the now nervous chancellor, "We will close the Breach, we will find those responsible, and we will restore order. With or without your approval."

Knowing he lost and to speak further would only make things worse for him, Roderick stormed out of the room.

Seeing Wayne's completely lost expression at the thick book still sitting on the table, Leliana spoke up, "This is the Divine's directive: rebuild the Inquisition of old, find those who will stand against the chaos." She turned to Cassandra, We aren't ready. We have no leader, no numbers, and now no Chantry support."

"But we have no choice: we must act now," Cassandra turned to Wayne, "With you at our side."

"Huh?" Wayne asked, still not fully grasping the situation, "Why me? I mean, I want to help, but what is this Inquisition anyway? It surely can't be like the one I'm familiar with."

"Before we get into that, we should first introduce everyone here," Leliana said, gesturing to the two people that had thus far remained silent, but now stepped forward. One Wayne recognized as the commander at the Temple of Sacred Ashes and the other was an attractive dark-skinned woman in gold and purple clothing. "You've met Commander Cullen," she said, gesturing to the man, "He will be in charge of the Inquisition's military forces."

"A pleasure to see you again," Cullen said, nodding at Wayne, "I'm glad you'll be with us."

"Likewise, commander," Wayne said, his training kicking in as he addressed the man with a higher rank.

"Just Cullen will do," he said, "You're not going to be one of the soldiers, but rather one of those here that will help shape the Inquisition, so we'll be on equal ground."

"Really? Why am I invited to this position?" Wayne asked, looking around at the group.

"You hold the Mark," Cassandra explained, "We can't very well close the Breach for good without you."

"Well, I guess that makes sense," Wayne said, still not sure about suddenly being in some high position in an organization that seemed to have the potential to make major waves. He turned to the final member of their little cabal, "And you are, miss?"

"Josephine Cherette Montilyet," she said, bowing slightly as she held what looked, to Wayne, like a medieval clipboard, "I will be the one charged with acting as diplomat and ambassador. I am eager to learn about where it is you have come from. As ambassador, I pride myself on learning the aspects of different cultures."

"I have to admit that I am curious about where you come from as well," Leliana said, "Your clothing, weapons, and even the way you speak some times are all…unusual when compared to what I or anyone here really are used to."

"I'm a Ranger in the U.S. military," Wayne said, figuring that might offer some explanation.

"A ranger? So you are sent to scout out wilderness areas?" Cullen asked.

"Heh, we do a lot more than that. We're the ones sent in first," Wayne said with pride, "The tip of the spear. The ones sent to clear the way for the major forces, not to mention other special duties, like POW rescue."

"So, you are well-trained," Leliana said, which Wayne nodded in agreement to, "And this 'U.S.'? I've never heard of a land with this name."

"The full name is the United States of America," Wayne explained, "If you've got a map, maybe I can get an idea of where I am in comparing it," he said, still hoping that someway he'd at least be able to find his way home once this job was done.

"Certainly," Cassandra said, grabbing a rolled up parchment from a table against the wall before unrolling it onto the table in the center to reveal a map of a continent that Wayne didn't recognize.

"How big is this continent?" Wayne asked.

"It would take years to walk from one end to the other," Josephine explained.

"Jesus, that makes it bigger than Asia," Wayne muttered, "No way this is just a place no one discovered yet, so where the hell am I?"

"Nothing looks familiar to you?" Cassandra asked, curious.

"No, Xena, nothing. We've circumnavigated the globe on numerous occasions, so there's no way we'd have missed a continent this massive," Wayne said.

"Xena?" Josephine asked, curious.

"Yeah, I give people nicknames, but I've gotta know where the hell I am," Wayne said before the door opened again.

"I believe I might have a theory about that," Solas said as he walked in.

"What do you know, Elrond?" Wayne asked.

"Solas is more familiar with the Fade than anyone that has joined us," Cassandra said, "If anyone can guess how you got here, it is him."

"The Fade? What's that?" Wayne asked.

"It is the place that the rifts and the Breach connect to. The world of Spirits," Solas said.

"And demons," Cassandra interrupted.

"Of course," Solas agreed, gliding over the interruption, "Granted, it is more complicated than that, but we will get into that later. It's common knowledge that the Fade is quite literally infinite in terms of space, so my theory is that the Fade actually connects to other worlds."

"Other worlds?" Josephine asked.

"Yes, we know there is this world and the world of the Fade, so it would not be a great leap to think that there are others," Solas said.

"That's the best explanation I've heard so far," Wayne said, shrugging, "When this is over, do you think you can find a way through the Fade to guide me home?"

"It would be…quite difficult to do so," Solas said, "The Fade is not like this world, it is affected by the thoughts and feelings of people. It is ever changing and it is likely that the path you took no longer exists."

"Shit," Wayne sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"I will look into it, however, when I have a moment," Solas said, reassuringly.

"Thanks, Elrond," Wayne said, smiling.

Solas nodded and said, "If there's nothing else, I will take my leave."

When Solas left, Wayne turned to the other four members of the group, "So, what's the first step of this Inquisition?"

"We spread word that the Inquisition is reborn and start getting our forces prepared," Cassandra said.

"Alright, what can I do to help with that?" Wayne asked.

"There are some members of our forces that have requested aid, like our quartermaster, the apothecary, and the blacksmith," Josephine said, "If you could help them, it would aid our forces."

Wayne nodded his acceptance of the suggestion and the group headed out to do their differing tasks. Wayne helped the quartermaster find some supplies, the blacksmith gather materials for the troops' weapons, and the apothecary find the notes of his late predecessor. He also spoke to the different people he figured he was going to be dealing with the most, like Cullen, Varric, and the others. Wayne learned that Varric was a renowned author, a member of the merchant's guild, and a spymaster similarly to Leliana, though he admitted that she was much better at it.

Solas taught him about the Fade and his hobby to visit it in his dreams while sleeping in old forts and on battlegrounds. It was after learning about the Fade and its different aspects that Solas asked the question Wayne himself was afraid to ask himself, "You are aware that it's possible that when the Breach is closed, the way to your homeworld will be lost? No more Breach, no more rifts being formed."

Wayne nodded grimly, "Yeah, the thought has occurred to me. I'll…deal with that when it happens. Besides, right now, the rifts are rare in my world, but if I don't close the Breach, my world along with this one could be in trouble."

"Indeed. I will continue to research however I can on the subject, but you may want to be prepared," Solas said sadly.

Wayne nodded, "Thanks, Elrond," he said before he left the elf. He next went to see Josephine in her office in the Chantry, where she was having to deal with some angry noble telling her that the new Inquisition needed to leave Haven, since he owned it and didn't want a 'heretical organization' in the village. Josephine, however, convinced him otherwise by using his own faith against him before the man left.

"That was pretty impressive," Wayne said, "You handled that guy pretty well."

"Thank you. The Marquis is but the first of many that we will have to deal with as we continue our works," Josephine said.

"And I'm sure you'll be able to handle it, Padmé," Wayne said, smiling at her.

"Padmé?" Josephine asked, "I heard that you like to give nicknames not unlike Varric, but I am curious as to why you chose this one for me."

"It's in reference to this one character from a famous story. She was a renowned diplomat and refused to compromise when it came to righting something she knew was wrong. She'd refuse to bend her morals no matter what. You just strike me as that type of person," Wayne said with a smile.

"Oh, I thank you. I am very flattered for the complement," she said, her dark skin becoming darker from the blush.

"I'm glad, so how did you come to join our little Inquisition?" Wayne asked.

"I'm an old…friend of Sister Leliana. She asked me to join while I was working as an ambassador for monarchy in Antiva," she explained

He next found Leliana in a tent outside the chantry, praying of all things, which greatly surprised Wayne.

He couldn't hear most of what she was saying until she seemed to forgo prayer in favor of specifically addressing her 'Maker,' "Is that what you want? Blood? Is that your game?"

"If your Maker's anything like the god most worship back in my world, you'll be waiting a long time for an answer," Wayne said, leaning against the post holding up the tent.

Leliana stood up and turned to him, "You speak for Andraste and the Maker. What is their game?"

"Sorry, Spook, but I only speak for myself. Don't know what your gods are thinking," Wayne said.

"They demand so much from us, but they won't even protect the greatest among us. Surely, this can only be some game of theirs," Leliana said.

"Well, I can't say one way or the other, Spook. Hell, I can't even say if they exist with certainty, but consider this, if the Divine hadn't died and the explosion hadn't happened, then you guys might not have taken interest in me when I was found and I might have died and the Breach wouldn't have been closed," Wayne said.

Leliana stared at him for a second before saying, "I…hadn't thought of that. It is true that the Maker doesn't in an obvious way, but I thought you didn't believe in the Maker? In fact, it doesn't appear that you believe in the god of your world either."

Wayne shrugged, "I'm open to the idea, but I personally prefer to just take care of the problem in front of me rather than wait for a deity to show up and do it for me."

Leliana smiled, "You know, I believe this is the most serious I've seen you, since we've met."

"What can I say? I'm a man of many layers," he said with a smirk.

"So, did you need something?"

"Just wanted to get to know some of the people I'm going to be working with," Wayne said.

"That's understandable. I suppose I tell you of my past," she said before going into how she went from being a bard to a lay sister of the chantry to a companion of the man that would become known as the Hero of Ferelden, who stopped the last Blight, which found out was when an army of creatures called darkspawn invaded the surface, to finally the Left Hand of the Divine.

Detecting the reverence that she seemed to hold for the dead Divine, which seemed to be even more than some seemed to hold for her, Wayne asked, "So was there something more between you and the Divine? More than Left Hand and Divine?"

Leliana's friendly smile faded then, "Typical. I respect and revere her so obviously we were lovers," she said with annoyance.

Wayne was surprised by the venom in her voice, since this time he wasn't trying to annoy her, "Uh, actually, I was thinking she was like your favorite aunt or something."

Leliana's expression turned to one of surprise and remorse, "Oh, I…I apologize, Wayne. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"Eh, forget it. You're hardly the first woman to get pissed at me and I guarantee you won't be the last," Wayne said with an honest smile.

Leliana laughed lightly at his words, "I'm sure. What with your constant teasing of Cassandra, I'm surprised she hasn't attempted to hit you yet."

"Oh, I'm sure that's coming," Wayne said, "Well, I'll let you get back to your work."

Leliana nodded and said, "Don't be too long. We've received some information that could be important."

"Okay, I'm heading over to where Cassandra and Cullen are working with the troops. I'll tell them to head to the war room," Wayne said.

"There's no rush. Certain preparations need to be made anyway before we can act on the information," Leliana said.

Wayne nodded and headed out to the field outside Haven where Cullen was running the troops through drills. After learning about Cullen's past as a templar first at the Ferelden Circle and then at the Kirkwall Circle, where Wayne learned the war between Templars and Mages was said to really have begun. After giving Cullen, or Galahad as Wayne called him now, the news about the information that Leliana had, Wayne headed over to Cassandra, who, after some light prodding, gave Wayne some very surprising information.

"Hold on a second. You mean to tell me that not only are you a member of a family of dragon hunters, but also you're a member of the royal family!? And you saved the last Divine from a dragon invasion!?" Wayne asked in surprise.

"Yes, though most of Nevarra can say that they are members of the royal family and I had help with the dragon. I just killed the blood mage controlling it," Cassandra said before Wayne started laughing lightly.

"Man, I really did pick the perfect nickname for you," he said, which earned him a confused look from the Seeker, "Xena's full title is 'Xena: Warrior Princess."

"I'm not a princess. Merely a member of the royal family and not even really that since I became a Seeker," Cassandra sighed.

Wayne just shrugged and said, "Close enough."

Cassandra rolled her eyes, "Was your coming here just to annoy me and pry into my personal life or did you actually have a reason for being here?"

"I can pick only one?" Wayne asked with a teasing smile, making Cassandra groan, "Spook got some information she wants us to hear, so I figured I'd come and bring you to the War room."

Cassandra nodded and said, "Then let us go." The two headed to the chantry together. She noticed him closing and opening his Marked hand. "Does it trouble you?"

"Can't say it is a comfort," he said, "But I'll deal with it. At least it doesn't hurt anymore."

"We take our victories when we can," she said, smiling a little before she became serious again, "What's important is that it's stable as is the Breach. You've given us time, and Solas believes a second attempt might succeed, proviced the Mark has more power."

"How much power, dare I ask?" Wayne asked.

"The same level of power used to open the Breach in the first place. That is not easy to come by," she explained.

"You mean the same amount of power that resulted in a massive explosion?" Wayne questioned.

"Yes, but we believe we will be able to prevent such an outcome. We will be using the power from a number of sources."

"What sources?" he asked.

"We will get into that with the others when we decide what to do next, but now we should see what Leliana has learned," she said, before they went into the war room.

When they entered the room, they found Josephine, Cullen, and Leliana waiting for them.

"So, what's the news, Spook?" Wayne asked the spymaster.

"The Chantry has decided its stance on us and it's not good," she said.

"Shocker," Wayne muttered, "What did they say?"

"The Chantry has denounced the Inquisition and you, specifically," Josephine said.

"Guess they still believe that I blew up your Conclave," Wayne said,

"That is not the full issue any longer," Josephine said, "Some are calling you the 'Herald of Andraste' and that frightens the Chantry. The remaining clerics have declared it blasphemy and we heretics for harboring you."

"Figures," Wayne sighed, "So, what can we do about this?"

"Before we can work on closing the Breach, we need the Chantry on our side," Leliana said.

"It may not be as difficult as that," Josephine said, "We need them to be neutral to us at worst if not our allies."

"And how do we do that?" Wayne asked, "None of them seem likely to talk to us."

"That is the good news that we have," Leliana said, "I've been contacted by Mother Giselle, a revered mother out of Jader. She says that she has information that can help with our problem with the Chantry, but she insists on meeting with you before she gives us the information."

"Could this be a trap?" Wayne asked, "Some way for the Chantry to get us to lower our guard before they attack?"

"With what?" Cullen asked, "They only have words at their disposal with their forces rebelling."

"Alright, where is this Mother Giselle?" Wayne asked.

"Her last known position was here," Leliana said, pointing to a place on the map on the center, "In the middle of the Hinterlands."

"What's the catch?" Wayne sighed, knowing it wouldn't be that straightforward.

"It's right in the middle of the conflict between the mages and templars and it is close to the village of Redcliffe, where the rebel mages have made their home base," the spymaster explained.

"So, she's in the middle of a warzone," Wayne said, "Great."

"I will send my spies to rendezvous with Mother Giselle. They'll be able to slip past the fighting, find her, and protect her," Leliana said.

Wayne nodded, "Do it, Spook. We'll head out to meet her immediately."

 **A/N: And there's chapter 2! So, I realize it wasn't action-packed, but I needed to introduce Wayne to the different players that he'd be dealing with. Next chapter will have more action, promise. Please, favorite, follow, and/or review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Please, remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.**

 **Chapter 3:**

 **Joining a War**

Once the supplies were prepared, Wayne, Solas, Varric, and Cassandra headed out with a contingent of Inquisition soldiers, using any horses they could find to speed up their travel.

Reaching the Hinterlands and the Inquisition camp, Wayne was surprised to find the leader of the scouts that Leliana had sent to secure their route in and the area around their camp was, in fact, another dwarf, a girl dwarf to be precise.

"You must the one they call the Herald of Andraste. Gotta say your uniform's as weird as they say," the short girl said.

"I'll try not to take that personally," Wayne joked, "Name's Corporal Wayne Clark. You are?"

"Oh, you can call me Scout Harding," she said, giving a friendly smile.

"Harding, huh? You ever visit Kirkwall's Hightown?" Varric asked with a tone that told he was barely containing his laughter.

"I…can't say I have. Why?" she asked.

"Because you'd be Harding in High…nevermind," he said, realizing the obviousness of his joke.

Cassandra scoffed at his attempted joke.

Wayne just shook his head and spoke to Harding, "So, what's the situation?"

"It's bad, Herald," she said solemnly, "Mother Giselle has been helping the refugees in the crossroads, which has put her and the refugees smack dab in the middle of the fight between the templars and the mages. Not only that, but the horsemaster that we were ordered to secure horses from lives on a farm on the other side of the Hinterlands. To get to him, we've got to get through rebel mages and templars all of which seem to see everyone as an enemy."

"Any good news?" Wayne asked sarcastically.

"I grew up around here and people always said that Dennet's herds were the strongest and fastest this side of the Frostbacks, so if you can get them for us, it'll be a big help for the Inquisition. Plus, it's not raining, so there's that," Harding said smiling.

"Any backup we can count on?" Wayne asked.

"Corporal Vale and our men are doing what they can to help protect the people, but they won't be able to hold out very long, but they'll be able to help if you hurry," she said.

"Guess we better head out then," Wayne said, nodding his thanks to the scout.

The quartet headed down the hill, passing dead bodies with arrows embedded in their bodies.

"Looks like the Harding and the other scouts made the job a bit easier," Wayne said, "Though I'm guessing there'll be plenty more where they came from."

"I'd say that's a good guess, Wayne," Varric said, "My experience is that there's always more."

Reaching the Crossroads, Wayne and his group spotted Templar knights fighting a trio of Inquisition soldiers. Despite being outnumbered, the Inquisition troops were holding their own against the soldiers. Wayne used his rifle to put a hole in one of the archers' head while Cassandra moved between one of the swordsmen and an Inquisition solder to use her shield to bash him away before stabbing him in the neck. Varric used Bianca to take down a couple more swordsmen as they charged while Solas used a fireball to blast those remaining.

"Is that it?" Wayne said, seconds before a fireball flew past his head.

"Mages!" Cassandra shouted, as she moved to charge at them with the Inquisition soldiers. Fighting alongside the mages were soldiers wearing light armor, which surprised Wayne.

"I thought mages didn't use swords!" Wayne said as he shot one of the attacking swordsmen.

"They must be mercenaries that the rebel mages hired!" Varric said, firing at one of the mages.

"Or perhaps villagers that support the mages!" Solas said as he used a barrier to block a fireball.

"Either way, they're-shit!" Wayne shouted as he dove behind a crate to dodge another fireball, "It's official, I hate fighting mages! At least with regular guys, you only gotta worry about swords and arrows! Not freaking fireballs!"

"Gotta agree with you on that one!" Varric shouted as he rolled out of the way of shot of ice before putting a bolt between the eyes of the mage that attacked him.

The mages didn't last much longer after that, but the templars tried to give their attack a second try. Cassandra intercepted one of the templars who was charging with a large shield, but she failed to notice one of the archers taking aim at her back. Wayne noticed, but he couldn't get a clear shot, so he ran and dove in the path of the loosed arrow, taking the shot right in the center of his vest. The arrow barely penetrated his vest, so he ignored it to raise his rifle again to shoot the archer. One of the remaining swordsmen tried to flank Wayne, but the soldier was ready for him. He ducked under the slashing sword, drawing his knife and driving into the space between his helmet and torso, stabbing the swordsman's neck.

Cassandra finished off her opponent and turned to Wayne, an unhappy expression on her face, "You didn't need to protect me. I'm quite capable of taking care of myself."

"You know, back home, when someone takes a shot for you, it's considered polite to say 'thank you,'" Wayne said, ignoring her frustration.

She snorted derisively, "Hmph," before she said, as though she was getting her teeth pulled, "Thank you, even if it was unnecessary." Then, she did something that surprised even Wayne: she kissed him on the cheek, "Maybe now you will stop bothering me about that imaginary deal of yours."

Wayne was stunned for a few seconds before he got his mocking smile back and said, "You know, back home, we didn't count it as a kiss unless it was on the lips."

"Argh!" she growled before stomping off.

"That wasn't true about the kiss thing, was it?" Varric asked, his tone saying he already knew the answer.

"Nope!" Wayne said, with a cheeky smile, making Varric laugh and even Solas gave a quiet laugh, "Now, let's find this Giselle. Hopefully, she really can help us."

"What about the Seeker? Shouldn't we make sure that she doesn't get ambushed?" Solas said, swallowing his laughter.

"Hah! In her mood, I'd be more worried about anyone that tries anything!" Varric laughed.

The trio headed to where they noticed some of the wounded were gathered so they could find the Mother. It turned out they didn't have to look far for her as she was helping as she could with the wounded, providing religious council and giving water to the wounded. As she did, mages that were clearly not among the rebels attacking the refugees were helping to heal as best as their magic could.

One of the wounded soldiers looked at one of the approaching mages in fear, despite his wounds, and resisted his aid. The Mother, seeing the issue, approached the wounded soldier to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave him a calming, motherly smile.

"D-Don't let him touch me, Mother," the man said, shaking in fear, "His magic-"

"Is no more dangerous than your sword," Mother Giselle interrupted, "But, turned to noble purposes, it is a gift from the Maker. Now, please, allow him to ease your suffering."

The soldier looked between the Mother and the mage and back again before looking at the mage again and nodding his agreement.

"Mother Giselle?" Wayne asked, getting her attention.

"Ah, you must be the one they call 'the Herald of Andraste,'" she said, standing to face the soldier and his companions.

"So, I've been told. For the record, it wasn't my decision," Wayne said, feeling a little uncomfortable about his title and its connection to a religion he didn't even follow.

She nodded and gestured for him to follow her, "I am aware of the Chantry's denoucement and I know those that stand against you and the Inquisition. I won't lie, some of them are grandstanding, hoping to improve their chances of becoming the new Divine. Some are simply terrified. So many good people, senselessly taken from us."

"What happened was terrible," Wayne agreed.

"Fear makes us desperate, but hopefully not beyond reason," she said, "Go to them. Convince the remaining clerics you are no demon to be feared. They have heard only frightful tales of you. Give them something else to believe."

"What sort of frightful tales are being told?" Wayne asked, curious.

"The type that perhaps has some measure of truth," she said, "The common connection of the tales say that you are a non-believing barbarian that wields a weapon, which makes even the strongest armor useless, and has a habit of using it, especially to get his way."

"Okay, I see your point," Wayne said, knowing there was a good bit of truth to that.

"You needn't worry overly much," Giselle said, "You needn't convince all of them. You just need to get some of them to doubt. Their power comes from their unified voice. Take that from them and you will have the time you need."

"Oh, is that all?" Wayne said, sarcastically.

She smiled reassuringly, "I have faith that you will succeed. I will send Sister Leliana the list of those in the Chantry who would be amenable to a gathering before going to Haven to see where I can help."

"Thank you for doing this," Wayne said, nodding his thanks.

"I do not know if you have been touched by Fate or sent to help us, but I hope. Hope is what we need now. The people will listen to your rallying call, as they will listen to no other," Giselle said, "You could build the Inquisition into a force that will deliver us…or destroy us."

Wayne just nodded his thanks.

"I will take my leave now. I hope you will help the refugees here while you're here. Corporal Vale up on that hill over there will be able to give you some ideas as to the needs of the people," she said before walking away, heading up the path to the Inquisition camp.

Solas and Varric rejoined him once she was gone.

"I trust all is well?" Solas asked.

"As it can be, Elrond," Wayne said, sighing, "She's gonna help us, but we still need to find this horsemaster and see if we can help the refugees. As things stand, the templars and rebel mages could still come back and cause them problems, not to mention any other problems that'll come up."

"For instance?" Solas asked.

"Well, these people have nowhere else to go, right?" Wayne asked to which Solas nodded, "So, what they carry with them is all they have. You see anything like coats or blankets? Once it gets cold, these people will be in serious trouble."

"I see your point," Solas said, "But what can we do? We don't have the supplies either."

"Maybe that Corporal Vale has some ideas," Wayne said, "Looks like he's sending his troops to secure the area." Wayne pointed to the soldiers moving to the different entrances to the Crossroads refugee camp.

The trio headed up the hill where Vale was speaking with Cassandra.

"Ah, here are your companions, Lady Seeker," Vale said before giving them a salute, "I'm Corporal Vale. I've been placed in charge of these troops."

"I was just having the corporal give an update as to the situation here," Cassandra said, ignoring Wayne's presence.

"So, what's the situation, corporal?" Wayne asked, finding it strange to be technically above someone on the chain of command even though they share the same rank.

"It's not good, Herald," Vale said, "Not only are there rifts throughout the area, not to mention the templars and mages. The templars are not part of the main force and they're taking their 'duty' of hunting rebel magic too far and attacking anyone they believe to be maleficarum or harboring them. The mages attacking the refugees aren't the main force of mages either. These mages were kicked out of Redcliffe where the main force of rebel mages are for being too violent and are now attacking everyone they come across. Not only that, but the refugees have no blankets or coats for when it gets cold and food's running low. Worst of all, we're in desperate need of a doctor. The mages can only do so much with their healing magic. We need someone that is actually trained to help in this regard."

"Any idea how we can deal with these?" Wayne asked.

"Well, with the mages and templars, the only way I can think of is to take them down. In regards to the blankets and supplies, recruit Whittle should be able to help. The hunter across the valley should be able to point you in the right direction of somewhere you can find food. As for the doctor, maybe you can find one in Redcliffe, though the rebel mages have completely sealed the city off," Vale stated.

"Alright, we'll go talk to them. Thanks, corporal," Wayne said.

Vale nodded and the group headed out to talk to the people Vale mentioned. After getting information telling them where some rams could be found to provide meat for the refugees and where to potentially rob the banished rebel mages of their supplies, Wayne and the group headed through a tunnel to reach the center of the Hinterlands and the middle of the battlefield. There were burning houses, large pillars of ice, abandoned wagons, and corpses all over the area. Both mages and templars were out in force and fighting one another.

"Once more unto the breach," Wayne muttered to himself as he raised his rifle to fire at one of the templars that had noticed them.

 **A/N: And there's chapter 3! Please, favorite, follow, and/or review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Reviews:**

 **edboy4926:**

 **Glad you like it. Let's just say that problem will be addressed. I won't say how, but let's just say his drill sergeant will come back into play and that you should remember some operations that occur in the Western Approach. Finally, who ever said I was going to follow the format of the game exactly?**

 **cjboughton:**

 **Glad you think so.**

 **A/N: Please, remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.**

 **Chapter 4:**

 **Mages, Templars, and Wolves**

Upon reaching the center of the Hinterlands, Wayne and his companions came under attack from both templars and mages, forcing the group to fight their way through. After taking out what seemed like the hundredth opponent, soldier and his allies seemed to have earned a bit of respite, so they started going through the belongings of their dead enemies. In the satchel of one of the mages, Wayne found a pamphlet advertising a gathering of mages in a location nearby called the Witchwood.

"Seriously? A bunch of mages are hanging out in a place called WITCHwood?" Wayne asked rhetorically.

"No one ever accused them of being original," Varric laughed as they passed under a large metal ornament that marked the entrance to the forest.

"We shouldn't underestimate them," Cassandra said, "Even if they are unoriginal."

The group headed into the woods and finding a clearing where massive spikes of ice were jutting out of the ground and a nearby cave entrance was blocked by what looked like a wall of light.

"Well, I think we're in the right place," Wayne said sarcastically before a blast of lightning flew past his head as mages charged out of the woods and the cave to attack the group.

"Gee, ya think!?" Varric shouted as he fired Bianca at one, nailing him in the left eye.

Wayne moved behind one of the large ice spikes to start firing at the attacking mages and mercenaries. Cassandra used her shield to become a living roadblock for the mages charging out of the cave. Some mercenaries tried to get in close to attack her, but Solas used his ice magic to block their advance and take out a couple mages. Once they took out the last of the attacking mages, they turned their attention to the wall of light blocking the entrance to the cave.

Wayne gently touched it to find it solid and unmoving.

"Okay, how are we gonna get through this?" Wayne asked, "Any ideas?" 

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance," Solas said, stepping forward before flaring his magic and sending a fire spell at the wall of light, making it disperse, "Such barriers can only be removed by the use of magic."

"Good to know," Wayne said as the group headed into the cave.

The end of the tunnel was guarded by the mages and glowing circles on the floor.

Wayne tried to move to group of barrels for cover, but he was stopped by Cassandra grabbing his arm.

"Careful!" she warned, "Those glyphs will explode if you touch them."

Wayne nodded his thanks and carefully moved around the glyphs to reach some boxes to use them for cover, thinking, 'Great. So there are magic landmines here too. Awesome.'

Wayne opened fire on the mages, using short controlled bursts while his allies attacked as well.

When the last mage fell, the group started going through the pockets of the dead.

"So, where to next?" Wayne asked as they came out of the cave.

"With the apostates gone, the road will be much safer. However, we still need to deal with the rouge templars as well," Cassandra said.

"Yeah, we should try to deal with them next," Wayne said, "That way the path to the horsemaster will be clear and the main road will be open for travelers."

The group made their way back to the main road. Reaching a broken bridge, Wayne spotted a couple templars carrying shields loitering near some tents at the top of a hill down a path off the main road.

"Yeah, that's not suspicious or anything," Wayne muttered before turning to his group, "I think those guys over there are the ones guarding the front of the templar camp. We should take them out quietly so we can infiltrate the camp and take them by surprise."

"Sounds like a wise plan," Cassandra said, nodding her agreement.

"Good, Pinocchio and I will head up, take them out quietly, and have a quick looksie, then we'll regroup back here," Wayne said.

"Uh, why me?" Varric asked.

"Because you have the quiet long range weapon, plus, in all honesty, your smaller size might help you go unnoticed," Wayne said, shrugging.

"What about you?" Solas asked, "Your guns are not exactly quiet."

"That's why I've got ol' reliable here," Wayne said, pulling his k-bar out of its sheath to spin it in his hand.

"Assuming you can get close enough to use it," Cassandra said, uncertain of the knife's usefulness.

"I'll get close enough," Wayne said, his tone relaying his complete certainty before turning to Varric, "When I take the first one out, use Bianca to take out the second."

Varric nodded and his shot, while Wayne quietly moved up the path using boulders and trees to keep out of sight. When his target was facing away from him, Wayne moved in and grabbed him before slitting the templar's throat with his knife. Before the other guard could make a sound in surprise, a crossbow bolt found its way through the templar's helmet's eyehole and into his eye.

The two then headed back to the meeting place where Solas and Cassandra were waiting.

"Okay, I've got an idea," Wayne said, "Pinocchio, Xena, you two will take the front gate."

"What about us?" Solas asked, curious as to his plan.

"There's a ledge around the back. We climb up to it and attack from the rear," Wayne said.

"It's a sound plan," Solas said, nodding his agreement, "Provided the Seeker and Varric can stall the ones that attack the front."

"It will not be an issue," Cassandra said seriously, "I will hold them back."

"Good, let's go, Elrond," Wayne said as the soldier and the elf quietly made their way up the stream beneath the templar camp.

Wayne started climbing up the sheer rock face with Solas climbing after him. Wayne reached the top after a few minutes and looked down to see Solas slowly making it up.

"You alright there, Elrond?" Wayne said from the top of the ledge.

"I-I'm fine. It's just that climbing is not precisely where my skills lie," Solas said, groaning, as he climbed.

"You know, I'll bet those Dalish you told me about could probably do they easily," Wayne said.

"Just give me a moment," Solas said, as he started climbing faster.

When he neared the top, Wayne helped him up and the two made their way around to the back of the templar encampment just as Cassandra and Varric started their own attack on the camp.

Wayne took down any rogue templar that came in his sights with Solas taking out the ones that managed to get by him. The two made their way through the fort before meeting up with Cassandra and Varric.

"I think that's the last of them," Wayne said, looking around to see if there weren't any more templars trying to sneak up on them.

"Yes," Cassandra said, nodding, "With the templars gone as well, the road should be safer for travelers."

"Plus the way to the horsemaster should be clear," Wayne said, "Now let's get going."

The group made their way back to the main road and headed towards the farm where the horsemaster, Dennet, resided. The group managed to make it to the borders of the farm, only to find wolves pacing along the border, snarling at the approaching group. The aspect that Wayne noticed was the glowing green eyes each of the wolves had as they charged at the group.

"Shit!" Wayne shouted as he raised his rifle to open fire on the attacking wolves.

The trio of wolves lasted only seconds against the group as Wayne took out one of them, Cassandra stabbed another in its mouth, and Varric hit the last in the eye with a shot from Bianca.

"Wolves do not normally attack with such single-mindedness," Cassandra said, grimly.

"Plus the ones I'm familiar with don't have glowing green eyes," Wayne said, "Any idea what it was that was causing them to act like that?"

"Could be that a demon has taken control of the pack," Solas suggested.

"They can do that?" Wayne asked, "Awesome," he said, sarcastically.

"Well, regardless, we need to get to Master Dennett," Cassandra said, "Perhaps he will have more information about the wolves."

"Then, let's go find him," Wayne said.

With that, the group headed into the farm and headed for the main house. Inside, Master Dennett was waiting and was surprised to have the Inquisition paying him a visit, but refused to give access to his stables until watchtowers were put in place to watch for bandits and the wolves were handled. After the group sent messages to the Inquisition troops at the crossroads to set up a camp in the farm and to Leliana so she could send builders to make the watchtowers at the locations that they marked. Then, they took the trail down the hill where Master Dennett told them that the wolves were coming from. At the bottom of the hill was a wide stream which the group needed to pass in order to reach the wolves' den. The group found the only crossing blocked by another Fade rift.

"Alright, get ready," Wayne said, "We've got to get through those demons."

The group slowly moved closer before they launched their attack. One of the demons guarding the rift was one that Wayne hadn't seen before. It looked like a person dressed in a ragged cloak, curled up, and floating in midair. The group launched their attack with Cassandra leading the charge. Terror demons that were bulkier and horned attacked by diving into the ground while the cloaked demon hurled itself through the air before firing a beam at Wayne. He ducked behind a boulder and the beam froze the parts of the rock it hit.

"Great, it shoots ice beams," Wayne muttered as he opened fire on the cloaked demon. Wayne was having a hard time getting a bead on the demon, but every time he managed to fire and hit the cloaked demon, the shots hit an invisible shield surrounding it. "And it has a forcefield. Great."

"I can handle it," Solas said, before he made a white beam come down on top of the cloaked demon, stunning it and making the forcefield disperse.

"Thanks, Elrond!" Wayne shouted before he fired a shot at the cloaked demon, hitting it in the center of its face and killing it.

Just as Wayne finished the ice-shooting demon, Varric and Cassandra finished off the other demons. Wayne then used the Mark to close the rift before turning to his companions.

"What the hell was up with Icy McJumpy?" Wayne said, gesturing to the dispersing remains of the cloaked demon.

"A despair demon," Solas explained, "They, like the emotion they represent, are chilling to the soul and are able to spring up at inopportune moments."

"Awesome," Wayne grumbled, "Can't wait to find out what else this world has in store."

The group continued down the path with the howling of the wolves getting louder with each step. They were getting close to the wolves' den when they nearly tripped over a body. It was partially eaten and torn to pieces by the wolves.

"What was this guy doing all the way out here?" Wayne asked, kneeling down to look through his pockets for a clue.

"Probably a hunter," Solas said, "Perhaps he sought to take out the wolf pack, not knowing they were controlled by a demon."

Just then, Wayne found a book in the hunter's pack before opening it up and reading it.

"Close," Wayne said, "Seems this guy fancied himself some kind of demon hunter, but I guess he got overwhelmed."

"He came alone?" Cassandra asked in shock.

"No," Wayne replied, "Looks like he came with someone else. Only refers to his partner as 'Hawk' though. We should keep an eye out. This "Hawk" could be injured and in need of help."

The group headed into the large cavern that served as the den of the wolves. The group came under attack almost the instant they stepped inside. For every wolf, they killed it seemed like four more took their place, but the group was managing to slowly make their way deeper until they found the demon, another fear demon, surrounded by more wolves.

"There it is! Take it out and the wolves will be freed from its control!" Solas shouted.

Wayne lifted his rifle to aim at the demon, but something slammed into him before he could fire. The beast that was now pinning him to the ground was no wolf, but instead a canine species that Wayne had never seen before. He kept his rifle between him and the snapping jaws of the large dog. While Wayne was struggling against the large dog, his companions were fighting off the wolves and demon. Holding the dog back with one hand, he frantically grabbed a large rock and hit the dog in the side of the head before grabbing up his assault rifle, aiming, and firing to hit the demon right between its eyes. The demon fell to the ground dead and the wolves immediately stopped attacking. They shook off the remaining influence of the demon before running off.

"It would appear the pack is free of the demon's influence," Solas said.

Wayne went over to the large dog and knelt down to see it was still breathing, but his hitting it seemed to have hurt it badly.

"What kind of dog is this?" Wayne asked before he noticed the collar around the dog's neck, "Huh, this must be Hawk."

"It's a mabari," Cassandra said, "They're well-known for being intelligent and picking their masters."

"Can we help him?" Wayne asked.

"Perhaps I can," Solas said, stepping forward before holding his glowing hands over the wounded dog for a few seconds. Once he was done, he lowered his hands and stepped back, "I have healed his injuries, but he will still need rest and care."

"But he's free from the demon's influence, right?" Wayne asked.

"Yes," Solas said, nodding.

"Then, we'll take it back to the farm. Maybe they'll take care of him," Wayne said, putting the dog on his shoulder.

The group headed back to the farm where the Inquisition's builders were already getting to work on erecting the watchtowers. Dennett's daughter offered to look after the mabari while it healed before the group went to talk to Dennett himself. Since all of his requests had been fulfilled, he promised the Inquisition access to his herds and, after some convincing from Cassandra, joined the Inquisition himself.

Now that they had the horsemaster on their side, the group headed to the nearby camp to rest and check for messages from Leliana. Sure enough, she sent a message informing them that unusual bandits had been causing the people of the crossroads problems by blocking off the east road and the southern part of the Hinterlands.

"Well, that figures," Wayne said, sarcastically, "One problem gets taken care of and another takes its place."

"Regardless, we should deal with the bandits in order to allow trade and supplies to reach the refugees," Solas said, "Though I am a tad concerned as to what the message meant by the bandits being unusual."

"Well, only one way to find out," Wayne said, before the group started their trek back to the east road, "Besides, I'm sure Pinocchio can think of some reasons for it."

"I've got a few ideas," Varric chuckled.

Cassandra groaned with annoyance.

 **A/N: And there's chapter 4! Please, favorite, follow, and/or review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Reviews:**

 **edboy4926:**

 **Glad you like it.**

 **ViktornovaMK2:**

 **Not when it's me.**

 **A/N: Please, remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.**

 **Chapter 5:**

 **A Wild Prom Date Appears!**

After Wayne and his companions reached the crossroads once more, they headed out the east gate and quickly ran into the so-called bandits that Leliana had sent them a message about.

"I can see what Spook meant about these guys being weird," Wayne said, "These guys are pretty well stocked with armor and weapons."

As they pushed their way through the defending bandits and reaching a lull in their numbers, Wayne spotted an opening in the nearby hills with a female elf outside it fighting demons.

Wayne immediately led his teammates to her aid. Once more, the team easily wiped out their opponents and approached the elf. Though she was suspicious of them at first, the elf allowed them to help her collect an item from the nearby ruin. Once she grudgingly thanked them for their aid, Wayne and his group continued on their way to the bandits' next camp, which was at the mouth of a tunnel between large rock formations.

"Hey, Elrond, what's a shemlen?" Wayne asked, referring to the term the elf woman had used to describe him.

"It is a…rather derogatory term used to describe humans. Many of the Dalish, the elves living in the wilderness away from the cities, have a very low opinion of humans. At best, they distrust them and at worst, they outright hate them," Solas said.

"Which means I'll need to be careful in the future when dealing with them," Wayne said, grumbling.

Any further talking was interrupted by the bandits appearing and the squad leapt into the fray. These bandits fared no better than their companions did and quickly fell before the squad's superior abilities. Once the last of them fell, Wayne noticed a couple of papers on one of bodies of the bandits. He was shocked to find out two pieces of very interesting information.

"Huh, well, it turns out that these bandits were actually hired to block off this road," Wayne said.

"For what purpose?" Cassandra asked, shocked.

"No idea," Wayne said, "The note just says that they're hired to do so, letting people live so that they can warn others away. They also apparently have a fort to the south that they use as their main camp."

"Must be where we heard there were more of these bandits," Varric said, "Should we head back there to finish 'em off?"

"Not yet," Wayne said, before gesturing to the nearby passage going through the rock formations, "We should make sure there aren't any more bandits hiding out in there."

His companions nodded and they headed out into the passageway. Sure enough, there were more bandits waiting for them, but with their few numbers, they were not able to cause any trouble for the squad.

"Should we continue through the passageway?" Solas asked, gesturing to the passage past the bandit camp.

"Might as well," Wayne said, leading the way through passage.

After a few feet, the passage opened to a new area and Wayne, seeing what awaited them, froze in mid-step before walking backwards to push his companions back.

"What are you doing, Wayne?" Cassandra asked.

"Uh, quick question, are there dragons in this world?" Wayne asked.

"Yes, of course. I believe I mentioned that," Cassandra said, getting a cold feeling in her stomach.

"Oh, right. Just to be clear: we're talking about big, flying, fire-breathing lizards, right?" Wayne asked.

"They don't all breathe fire, but yes," the seeker said simply.

"Oh, good, I was worried that was my prom date right around the corner," Wayne said, pointing at the corner he just backed away from.

"Excuse me?" Solas asked.

"My prom date wasn't really a looker," Wayne said, shrugging, "Not to mention, she tended to have a bad temper."

"Then, why would you go out with her?" Varric asked with amusement.

"I was a teenage boy going through puberty and she was well-known for being a sure thing. Why do you think?" Wayne joked.

Cassandra sighed and said, "You said something about a dragon?"

"Yeah, any chance it's a herbivore?" Wayne asked.

"No," Cassandra said.

"Great," Wayne sighed, "Well, we can't leave it to cause the people around here trouble. Let's go slay a dragon."

The group moved slowly back towards the corner and Wayne peeked around it to get a clear view of the situation.

"Okay, the big dragon is perched on a platform to the right," Wayne said quietly, "There are also a bunch of smaller ones walking around. Looks like they attacked a caravan or something. I can see a bunch of what look like dwarf corpses and burning carts all over the place. This first area looks like it's pretty confined, really not a good place to fight that thing, but it looks like there's a more open area past it. We've gotta get past the lizards as quickly as possible and get there, so we can have some room to maneuver."

The rest of the squad nodded their agreement and they quickly moved around the corner. The large dragon took to the air and the smaller dragons charged at the group. With Cassandra using her shield to block their small fire balls and Solas using his magic to keep them at a distance, Varric and Wayne used their weapons to take them down while the group pushed through the clearing to reach the more open one. The larger dragon breathed streams of fire down at them as they moved quickly to avoid the flames.

Once they reached the second clearing, the larger dragon landed onto the ground with a thundering slam. It roared so loudly it felt like Wayne's ears were about to start bleeding before it started galloping towards them the group dove out of its way, with Cassandra and Wayne moving to its left and Solas and Varric dodged to its right.

"Elrond, since it likes things hot, I think ice might help to keep things cool!" Wayne said.

"I was thinking the same!" Solas said, as he sent streams of ice at the dragon.

"Pinocchio, aim for its vulnerable spots!" Wayne shouted, "Xena, move in under it and attack there! It'll likely be weaker under there!"

"What will you be doing?" Cassandra asked as she rolled beneath one of the dragon's stomping tree-trunk-like legs.

"You mean besides not getting eaten!?" Wayne shouted as he dodged out of the way of the dragon's snapping jaws, "I'm going to do the same as Varric!"

With that, the fight began in earnest. Cassandra managed to cut into the massive reptile at its leg joints, making its hot blood flow out from its legs. Varric managed to hit the dragon in one of its eyes, making the massive reptile roar with obvious pain. Solas kept the lizard off balance by using ice spells which, from the way it seemed to back away from them, Wayne and his companions could tell it didn't particularly enjoy. Wayne managed to hit the dragon in some of its cuts, but he noticed the attacks weren't penetrating deep enough to cause the dragon major damage.

'Gotta figure out a way to end this,' Wayne thought as he dodged behind a boulder to avoid another stream of fire from the dragon, 'We're wasting time and ammo trying to kill this thing with bug bites. I'd use one of my grenades, but who knows if they will do anything to a freaking dragon. Ignoring the fact that I'm fighting a freaking dragon, damn this world is weird, I need to come up with something!'

Just then, Cassandra wasn't able to dodge quickly enough and was hit hard by the dragon's tail.

"No!" Wayne shouted as he ran to her side. Judging from the dent in her shield and armor, the soldier realized the metal took the brunt of the attack, "You alright, Xena?"

"Yes," she grunted as he helped the woman to her feet.

The dragon noticed the two fighters were distracted and charged at them, its maw gaping wide. Wayne, on pure instinct, raised his assault rifle and fired a trio of shots straight into the dragon's mouth. The dragon galloped at them for three seconds before its legs seemed to give out from under it and it collapsed to the ground, sliding to their feet.

"Huh," Wayne said, "That was…fun. Sure hope we don't have to deal with more of those."

"No arguments there," Varric said, returning Bianca to her holster on his back.

"We should collect some blood, scales, and teeth from the beast," Cassandra said, "They're very useful crafting resources."

"Scales and teeth I get, but blood? Seriously?" Wayne asked shocked.

Cassandra nodded, "Some people with enough skill can create runes from it."

"Runes?" Wayne asked as he got to work using his knife to scrape some scales off of the massive carcass and pull some of its massive teeth out.

"Yes, they can be attached to weapons and armor by a craftsman," Cassandra said before whistling. One of the ravens that was used to communicate with scouts and those back in Haven flew down to land on Cassandra's outstretched arm. She pulled out paper attached to the bird's leg and wrote something on it before replacing it. "That should reach our scouts nearby and they'll secure the corpse and start harvesting the harder to reach materials like the bones and webbings, not to mention the rest of the teeth and scales."

"Well, I guess we should get going after the rest of those bandits to the south," Wayne said as he checked his magazine, "Damn, this one's empty." He replaced it with one of the other four. "I really need to find a way to replenish my rounds or else I'll be stuck using my Barrett, sidearm, and knife," he muttered, "And even those won't last forever."

"Is something wrong, Wayne?" Solas asked, curious as to why the man was muttering to himself.

"Nah, nothing. Nothing at all, Elrond," Wayne said, smiling and waving off his worries, "Let's get going after the rest of those bandits. They'll keep attacking the people that pass by unless we stop them."

The elf nodded and the group headed towards to where the bandits were reported. It wasn't hard to find them as they didn't exactly hide their presence from the group. The fighters pushed their way through the bandit defenders with Cassandra taking on the large ones with hammers while Solas, Varric, and Wayne kept the others from flanking her. Wayne, worried about his ammo reserves, used his knife when he could. After they made their way through the first group of defenders, cleared a few groups of demons, and sealed a Fade rift, Wayne and his companions found the headquarters of the so-called bandits.

"They have a castle!?" Wayne said as they reached the top of a small hill that gave them a good view of the bandits' base.

"A fort actually. Little more than an outpost, really," Cassandra said.

"If you say so," Wayne said, as he pulled out his Barrett and looked through the scope, "Looks like there's a skeleton crew. I count at least four big guys and a couple guys with bows and swords, but it looks like there's a table at the top of the outpost. We want to find anything, it'll probably be there."

The group moved in and headed through the main gate. The bandit defenders launched an attack almost the instant Wayne's group was inside, but with Cassandra drawing the attention of the hammer-wielding bandits and the other three giving her covering fire with their various weapons, they made quick work of the defending bandits making their way to the top of the outpost. They found a table where various papers were weighed down by various weights and rocks. Wayne started going through the papers.

"Huh, this explains a bit," Wayne said, reading through the papers.

"What did you find?" Solas asked looking over his shoulder.

"I was right earlier about the so-called bandits being hired to do the things they've done. Looks like there is a way to something called the Deep Roads nearby. Looks like there's a group that's moving something from there and they hired these mercenaries to make sure no one found out and asked questions about their activities," Wayne explained.

"Huh, sounds like lyrium smugglers," Varric said, "Though it seems like a lot for them to do for even a rich vein of the stuff. Might be something more than that."

"Is this lyrium stuff valuable?" Wayne asked the dwarf.

"Absolutely. Both templars and mages use it to power their abilities," Cassandra explained.

"So, definitely something people would kill to protect," Wayne said, "Well, I think we should go ruin their day, don't you?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Varric joked.

With that, the group headed in the direction the dead mercenaries' map told them where to find the entrance to the Deep Roads. They got through the first group of mercenaries without a concern, but the they were surprised to find that the mercenaries were being attacked by another group. To Wayne, they looked like this new group were people that were skinned alive and had needle-like teeth. They attacked the mercenaries with animalistic savagery.

"What the hell are those things?" Wayne asked as they watched from an upper level as the mercenaries fought the creatures.

"Maker's breath, those are darkspawn!" Cassandra cursed.

"What?" Wayne asked, "How bad are we talking here?"

"They are blighted creatures that live in the Deep Roads. Their blood is poison and they attack indiscriminately. They will continue to swarm out of the Deep Roads until we close the hole they are using to get out," Cassandra explained.

"Okay," Wayne said, as he pulled out his Barrett and used the scope to scout out where the Darkspawn were coming from, "I see the hole they seem to be coming out of. I also see there's a big ass guy in heavy armor guarding it, but I can't get a clear shot."

"Oh, that's just great," Varric groaned, "You know, this is why I hate the Deep Roads."

"Looks like there's a way we can just go underneath where the mercenaries and the Darkspawn are fighting," Cassandra said, pointing to a path that split off from the one that led directly to where the mercenaries were guarding.

"Alright, we'll take the route underneath and make our way back to the mercenaries," Wayne said with his comrades nodding.

They made their way along the path, hearing the battle between the darkspawn and mercenaries. Once they got in sight of the large darkspawn, the group launched their attack on the creature.

Cassandra charged the creature while dodging and parrying the alpha hurlock's swinging hammer. Varric's attacks bounced off the large darkspawn's armor and it seemed to just shrug off Solas and Wayne's attacks. Roaring in frustration, the alpha batted Cassandra away before charging Wayne. The soldier ducked under the alpha's attack and he pulled out his knife to stab the darkspawn in the joints, only proving to enrage the darkspawn further. The alpha managed to grab Wayne and lift him up, managing to use him as a shield against his allies' attacks. The knife slipped from Wayne's hand as he was lifted off of his feet. The hurlock growled in Wayne's face as it opened its mouth to bite his face off.

"Two words, ugly: breath mint," Wayne said pulled out his side arm and shoving it in the hurlock's mouth before pulling the trigger three times.

The alpha dropped onto its back dead while letting Wayne go to drop as well.

"Are you alright?" Cassandra asked, moving to him while Solas used his magic to lift a large boulder and shove it in the hole the darkspawn were using to escape the lower Deep Roads, blocking it off completely.

"Yeah, though that guy's breath was probably the most rancid thing I ever smelled," Wayne groaned as he picked up his fallen knife and swung it a couple times to get the darkspawn blood off of it, "Now let's get going. We need to still take out those mercenaries."

The group headed back towards the mercenaries' location, easily taking out the remaining darkspawn and the mercenaries. They were shocked to find what it was that the mercenaries had in fact been smuggling.

"These idiots were smuggling red lyrium!?" Varric shouted in horror.

"Is that bad?" Wayne asked, a confused expression on his face.

"Yeah, regular lyrium's dangerous enough, but red lyrium is worse. It's mere presence can warp people's minds," Varric explained, "Not to mention, it's dangerous to even touch!"

"We should have some of our allies come and clear it out now that we've cleared the area," Cassandra suggested.

"Sounds good," Wayne said before the group used a pair of wheels to open the massive nearby vault door. After wiping out the darkspawn that had been trapped inside and taking everything of value from the vault, the group found opened the set of doors opposite the ones they'd used to enter and found themselves back at the entrance of the cavern. "Well, that's convenient."

The group made their way out of the cavern and almost the instant they were out of the cavern, another of Leliana's birds came and landed on Cassandra's outstretched arm.

Cassandra pulled a paper off of its leg and read it before pulling out a pen and a small vial of ink from her pack to write something on it.

"Well, what does Spook say?" Wayne said.

"Looks like she thinks we've done enough to earn enough clout in order to get into Val Royeaux to talk to the Chantry leaders without getting arrested," she explained, "I sent her a message about the red lyrium."

"Sounds good," Wayne said, pulling out the map that he got back at Haven, "Okay, looks like we haven't gone through this area here, so we'll go and check out that area first. Then, we'll head back to Haven to get supplies before heading to Val Royeaux."

"Yeah, let's just go to the center of the Chantry who think we're all heretics. What's the worst that could happen?" Varric laughed.

 **A/N: And there's chapter 5! Please, favorite, follow, and/or review!**


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